In order to obtain maximum power from the wind, it is necessary to properly adjust the angular position of a sailboat's jib or other thrust-providing sail.
Once the sail has been positioned as desired, no further repositioning of the sail is needed as long as the direction or velocity of the wind does not change and as long as the course of the boat is not changed.
In actual boating, relative wind and course changes are common. Thus, the operator of the boat is kept quite busy readjusting the angular position of the sail to the new conditions. Although novice sailors may at first enjoy the continual work required to keep the sail in proper trim, experienced sailors prefer to spend their time enjoying the cruise itself.
Few, if any, attempts have been made to design automatic sail trimming devices. Most prior art efforts have been directed, instead, to automatic means for steering boats by adjusting the rudder of a boat. The present inventor is aware of the following United States Patents in the field of this invention:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat No. Patentee Date ______________________________________ 4,193,432 Schuster 1980 4,314,518 Marsden 1982 4,165,704 West, Jr. 1979 3,903,828 Green 1975 4,040,374 Greene 1977 3,180,298 Gianoli 1965 2,653,563 Long 1953 4,366,767 Knoos 1983 2,519,469 Grierson 1985 4,066,911 Sarchet 1978 ______________________________________
It has also been reported in the press that computers have been installed aboard large sailboats; the computers simply monitor wind and other information and display the information on a screen.
A need persists for an automatic sail trimming apparatus that is light in weight and affordable by the average sailboat owner. The device should be mechanically simple and easy to make and install.
Although the prior art devices fulfill their intended functions, none of them teach or suggest how an economical yet highly effective servomechanism of the type disclosed hereinafter could be provided.